Cite encyclopedia is a template which is used for formatting references to articles in edited collections in a consistent and legible manner. It can be used at the end of the article, directly in the References section. It can also be placed within <ref>...</ref> tags for in-line citations. See also: Wikipedia:Footnotes.

Despite its name, {{Cite encyclopedia}} is actually used for citing articles in any sort of edited collection. This can include works such as encyclopedias and dictionaries, but more generally any book or book series containing individual sections or chapters written by various authors, and put together by one or more editors. However, it is not intended for journals or magazines, which are issued periodically and have volume and (usually) issue numbers, and should be cited with {{Cite journal}}; nor is it intended for conference proceedings, which should be cited with {{Cite conference}}.

An alternative to all of the above templates is to use the generic {{Citation}} template. It takes more or less the same parameters as the type-specific templates and produces a similar-looking citation, but with sections separated by commas instead of periods. For the purpose of citing articles in edited collections, the most significant parameter difference is that {{Cite encyclopedia}} uses title and encyclopedia for the titles of the individual article and the whole collection, respectively, while {{Citation}} uses contribution and title. See Wikipedia:Citation templates for more discussion of the various citation templates available.

All parameters must be in lowercase only. Copy a blank version to use.

Common fields, horizontal format

{{cite encyclopedia |year= |title = |encyclopedia= |publisher= |location= |id= }}

Full version, horizontal format

{{cite encyclopedia |last= |first= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |encyclopedia= |title= |trans_title= |url= |accessdate= |language= |edition= |date= |year= |month= |publisher= |volume= |location= |id= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |pages= |quote= |ref= }}

Full version, horizontal format (with current date)

{{cite encyclopedia |last= |first= |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |encyclopedia= |title= |trans_title= |url= |accessdate=२०२४-११-२५ |language= |edition= |date= |year= |month= |publisher= |volume= |location= |id= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |pages= |quote= |ref= }}

Full version, vertical Common fields, vertical
{{cite encyclopedia
 | last = 
 | first = 
 | author = 
 | authorlink = 
 | coauthors = 
 | editor = 
 | encyclopedia =
 | title = 
 | trans_title = 
 | url = 
 | accessdate = 
 | language = 
 | edition = 
 | date = 
 | year = 
 | month = 
 | publisher = 
 | volume =
 | location = 
 | id = 
 | isbn =
 | oclc =
 | doi =
 | pages = 
 | quote = 
 | ref = 
}}

{{cite encyclopedia
 | year = 
 | title = 
 | encyclopedia =
 | publisher = 
 | location = 
 | id = 
}}

Most fields can be wikilinked (ie. title = [[book article|book title]]), but should generally only be linked to an existing Wikipedia article. Any wikilinked field must not contain any brackets apart from normal round brackets () — don't use <>[]{}.

Nested fields either rely on their parent fields, or replace them:

  • parent
    • child — may be used with parent (and is ignored if parent is not used)
    • OR: child2 — may be used instead of parent (and is ignored if parent is used)
  • title: Title of article. Required.
    • article: Alternate. Cannot be used with title.
  • encyclopedia: Name of encyclopedia. Required.
  • trans_title: Translation of the title of article, if original was in a non-English language.
  • last: Surname of author. Don't wikilink (use authorlink instead).
    • first: First name(s) of author, including title(s) (eg. Firstname Middlename or Firstname M. or Dr. Firstname M., Snr.). Don't wikilink (use authorlink instead).
      • The “last” and “first” fields are poorly named for the case of an author whose surname is usually written first (e.g. as in Chinese). They also have the problem of only communicating which is the surname, not communicating where the surname is usually written. Consider deprecating first,last fields, and reinstating author field, using the notation "Smith, John" or "Hu Ke Jie" as appropriate (i.e. always writing surname first, and using comma or not depending on whether the name is usually written surname last or first).
    • authorlink: Title of Wikipedia article about author. Article should already exist. Must not be wikilinked itself. Do not use this on its own, but along with "author" or "first" and "last".
    • coauthors: Full name of additional author or authors, surname last, separated by ", " (e.g. Joe Bloggs, John F. Kennedy, H. R. Dent).
      • Someone please confirm that surname is to go last even for people whose name is usually written surname first. Consider rethinking this field, e.g. using Bloggs, Joe, and Kennedy, John F., and Dent, H. R., and Hu Ke Jie.
    • OR: author: Full name of author, preferably surname first.
  • editor or editors: Editor(s) for the entire work.
    • OR: as with author names editor-last, editor-first, editor2-first, editor2-last (up to 4)
  • url: URL of an online encyclopedia article. Cannot be used if you wikilinked title.
  • accessdate: Full date when item was accessed. Required when url field is used. Should be in the same format as the rest of the article. Must not be wikilinked.
  • language: The language in which the source is written. If English (the default) do not use this parameter.
  • edition: When the encyclopedia has more than one edition. e.g. "2nd edition".
  • volume: When the encyclopedia has more than one volume. e.g. "Volume 3".
  • date: Full date of publication. Must not be wikilinked.
  • publisher: Publisher should not include corporate designation such as "Ltd" or "Inc".
    • location: Place of publication.
  • isbn: International Standard Book Number such as 1-111-22222-9. Note that "isbn", like all field names, must be in lowercase.
  • oclc: Online Computer Library Center ID number, such as 3185581
  • doi: digital object identifier. See also {{doi}}
  • id: A unique identifier, used if none of the above are applicable. In this case, you need to specify the kind of identifier you are using, preferably with a template like {{ISSN}} or {{LCC|Z253.U69}}. Remember, you must specify the kind of identifier, not just give a number. (Use one of the more specialized parameters if possible; they are linked automatically. In other words, don't use id = ISBN 1-111-22222-9 anymore. Use isbn = 1-111-22222-9.)
  • pages or page: These parameters are for listing the pages relevant to the citation, not the total number of pages in the book. "|pages= 5–7" produces "pp. 5–7", while "|page= 5" produces "p. 5". The "pp." notation indicating multiple pages, and "p." notation indicating a single page, are placed automatically when you choose between the plural (pages) or singular (page) form of the parameter. Page ranges should be separated by an unspaced en dash (–).
    • nopp: using "page" or "pages", automatically places the p. or pp. notations. If this is inappropriate—for instance, if page=Front cover, placing any value after nopp (e.g. nopp=y) will hide the p. or pp. notation.
  • quote: Relevant quote from the article.
  • ref: ID for anchor. By default, no anchor is generated. The ordinary nonempty value |ref=ID generates an anchor with the given ID; such a linkable reference can be made the target of wikilinks to full references, especially useful in short citations like shortened notes and parenthetical referencing. The special value |ref=harv generates an anchor suitable for the {{harv}} template; see anchors for Harvard referencing templates.
  • {{cite encyclopedia | last = LAST | first = FIRST | authorlink = AUTHORLINK | coauthors = COAUTHORS | editor = EDITOR | encyclopedia = ENCYCLOPEDIA | title = TITLE | url = http://www.ecample.com | accessdate = 2006-07-02 | language = | edition = EDITION | date = | year = YEAR | month = | publisher = PUBLISHER | volume = VOLUME | location = LOCATION | id = ID | doi = | pages = PAGES }}
    LAST, FIRST; COAUTHORS (YEAR), "TITLE", in EDITOR, ENCYCLOPEDIA, VOLUME (EDITION संस्करण), LOCATION: PUBLISHER, पृ: PAGES, ID, अन्तिम पहुँच २००६-०७-०२  |coauthors= प्यारामिटर ग्रहण गरेन (सहायता)
  • {{cite encyclopedia | last = LAST | first = FIRST | authorlink = AUTHORLINK | coauthors = | editor = EDITOR | encyclopedia = ENCYCLOPEDIA | title = TITLE | url = http://www.ecample.com | accessdate = 2006-07-02 | language = | edition = EDITION | date = | year = YEAR | month = | publisher = PUBLISHER | volume = VOLUME | location = LOCATION | id = ID | doi = | pages = }}
    LAST, FIRST (YEAR), "TITLE", in EDITOR, ENCYCLOPEDIA, VOLUME (EDITION संस्करण), LOCATION: PUBLISHER, ID, अन्तिम पहुँच २००६-०७-०२ 
  • {{cite encyclopedia | last = LAST | first = FIRST | authorlink = AUTHORLINK | coauthors = | editor = EDITOR | encyclopedia = ENCYCLOPEDIA | title = TITLE | trans_title = TRANS_TITLE | url = http://www.ecample.com | accessdate = 2006-07-02 | language = Another Language | edition = EDITION | date = | year = YEAR | month = | publisher = PUBLISHER | volume = VOLUME | location = LOCATION | id = ID | doi = | pages = }}
    LAST, FIRST (YEAR), "TITLE" [TRANS_TITLE], in EDITOR, ENCYCLOPEDIA (Another Languageमा), VOLUME (EDITION संस्करण), LOCATION: PUBLISHER, ID, अन्तिम पहुँच २००६-०७-०२  |trans_title= प्यारामिटर ग्रहण गरेन (सहायता)

This template produces COinS metadata; see COinS in Wikipedia for background information.